


The Bet

by Gwenhwyfar1984



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-10
Updated: 2014-09-10
Packaged: 2018-02-16 20:22:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2283333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gwenhwyfar1984/pseuds/Gwenhwyfar1984
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tom wonders, and makes a long term bet. Janeway and Chakotay’s relationship seen through the eyes of Tom Paris.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Bet

**Author's Note:**

> Pairing: Janeway/Chakotay, Paris/Torres, talk of Janeway/Mark, Janeway/Paris, Janeway/Q, Janeway/Hologram, Chakotay/Seven, Chakotay/Seska  
> Warnings: Mild Adult Language  
> Episodes referenced: Elogium, Threshold, Resolutions, The Q and The Grey, Coda, The Gift, Hunters, and Post-Endgame
> 
> Disclaimer: Star Trek: Voyager is the property of Paramount Pictures and other companies. I am in no way connected to any of the companies, and I do not own.

Tom Paris was more observant than people gave him credit for. Admittedly, he had nurtured the idea that he did not care about anything serious. But he watched, and then used what he saw. Before, he had used the information for…well, not evil, but not too much good either. Now, he tried to use it for good.  
And for fun. Like now.  
“Say Harry…do you think that there is anything going on between the Captain and the Commander?” Tom asked his friend. They were currently sitting in the Mess Hall enjoying a meal after the end of Alpha shift.  
“Going on?” Harry asked blankly. Tom sighed. Sometimes his friend’s naivety could be maddening.  
“Mind if I join you?” B’Elanna Torres asked, walking up to their table with a tray. The men nodded and she sat next to Harry.  
“B’Elanna, I was just asking Harry if he thought there was something going on between the Captain and the Commander.”  
“Why would you ask that?” She asked, her voice a little tense. Of course, her voice was always tense.  
“You know what she said to him…about going to him with questions about mating behavior…” He allowed his voice to trail off suggestively.  
“She was joking. Trying to lighten the mood after everything.” Harry protested.  
“Janeway is engaged, and Chakotay was sleeping with Seska.” B’Elanna stated, taking a mouthful of…whatever it was Neelix had cooked. He had had the same thing and could not figure it out.  
“Yeah, well, we are probably going to be out here a long time…” He trailed off and the three of them frowned, not liking that thinking. “Anyway, I have noticed they are getting pretty close.”  
‘He did show her how to contact her spirit guide. He showed me too, but still…” B’Elanna admitted.  
“See! I’m telling you, there is something going on.”  
“They’re friends.” Harry stated.  
“He would never go for someone like her!” B’Elanna exclaimed.  
“Really? Wanna make a wager about that?” Tom asked, leaning forward and grinning.  
B’Elanna crossed her arms. “Alright. What do you have in mind?”  
“Ten years. If I have not been proven right in ten years, you get…six months’ worth of replicator rations.”  
“And you get six months’ worth if they are together?” B’Elanna asked.  
Tom nodded.  
“Hey now—“ Harry started, and Tom knew he was going to protest. After all, betting was not allowed, and betting on the love lives of the command team was doubly not allowed. That is what made it so fun.  
“And Harry here can be the judge. We go to him with our evidence.”  
B’Elanna nodded and Harry just looked resigned. “Deal.”

Unfortunately for Tom, the first hit to his side of the bet came after he broke the Warp 10 barrier. He wasn’t sure how, but to his immense embarrassment, the fact that he and the Captain had hyper-evolved…and mated…had become common knowledge.  
“Wow, Tom, I didn’t know that you made this bet to take the notice off your own crush on the Captain.” B’Elanna grinned. Even Harry looked a little amused.  
Tom bit back a sharp retort. The events still smarted, especially the fact that he now had children. “It’s not funny.” Was all he said, in a very calm tone. The other two sobered.  
“Are you ok?” B’Elanna asked seriously.  
“No. I will be though. And this proves nothing!” He waved a finger at them. Harry agreed, and B’Elanna shrugged.  
It might prove nothing, but he was going to keep a low profile around Chakotay anyway.

It happened. He had been proven right, and in the same year! He practically danced around his quarters, where the three had gathered.  
“Well?” Tom inquired to Harry.  
“Where’s your evidence?” B’Elanna shot back.  
Harry sighed. “I’m going to have to side with B’Elanna on this. Tom, we have no idea what happened—“  
“You don’t honestly think that they were on a planet, together, for three months, and nothing happened? Nothing at all? Come on!” He argued.  
“You cannot prove it though. So unless…I don’t know, the Captain turns up pregnant or something, you don’t win.” Harry stated.  
Tom sighed. He had not counted on Harry being so stubborn.  
“We’d better hope that that is not the case.” B’Elanna muttered. “Oh, I’m not talking about our bet. Can you imagine her off of coffee for nine months?”

So they watched very carefully for any sign of a relationship or pregnancy. Sadly, for Tom, there was no decline in her coffee consumption, and no sign of an expanding waistline.

Q’s appearance and his desire to mate with the Captain got Tom’s hopes up again. Chakotay was making his disapproval very clear to anyone who saw him. Tom approached Harry, but the Ensign didn’t even bother to contact B’Elanna for a discussion.  
“Everyone on the ship feel the same way, Tom. It proves nothing.”  
Darn it! Why couldn’t he make them see?

Tom pointedly looked back at Harry as he observed Chakotay entering the Captain’s Ready Room with a rose. The Command team left in good spirits, and he later heard they spent the evening on the holodeck.  
“If she hadn’t almost died and he wasn’t trying to cheer her up, I’d give it to you.” Harry admitted. B’Elanna smirked.

After that, to Tom’s disappointment, things between the two of them seemed to cool. Actually, they grew downright icy. After the events that lost them Kes, and gained them Seven of Nine, he was ready to just hand the rations over to B’Elanna. Almost all of the closeness that he had observed between them was gone. He expected B’Elanna to be happy, but to his surprise, she seemed a little sad too.

“Did you hear?” Harry asked, as they entered the holodeck. “The Captain got a letter. Her fiancée is married.”  
He felt a momentary sadness. It was not just for Janeway—though that was sad—but for everyone. Lives were going forward while they were away.  
“I thought that you’d be happier. It means that all bets are off. Seska is long gone; the fiancée is out of the picture…there is nothing to stop them.”  
“Why, Harry, you sound as if you are coming around to my thinking.” Tom replied, starting the Captain Proton program.

“A hologram?” Tom raged around the holodeck while B’Elanna watched him. “She goes for a hologram? Not even a smart one like the Doctor. One of the ones from the stupid village program.”  
“Are you calling your own program stupid?” She laughed.  
“If anyone would know, it would be me.” Tom sighed. “Why would she… A hologram!”  
B’Elanna walked up to him. “Tom, I didn’t come here to talk about someone else’s love life.”  
“You’re just saying that because you’re going to win.” He responded glumly.  
“Four years left.” She grinned and pulled him into a kiss.

“So I heard a disturbing rumor today.” Tom started, climbing into bed. B’Elanna was already in, a PADD in her hand and a bowl of…something, resting on her giant belly.  
“Which one?” She asked absently.  
“That Chakotay is dating Seven.”  
“God I hope not!” She exclaimed, throwing down the PADD, a look of horror on her face.  
He removed the bowl and replaced it with his hand. His daughter gave a kick. “Ah, so you’re coming around to my way of thinking, huh?”  
“No, I just thought he had better taste than that!” She answered, placing her hand over his.

Tom shifted the sleeping toddler in his arms. She was starting to get heavy, but he would never complain. B’Elanna, from her place in the front, gave him a questioning look. He shook his head in response and indicated that things were fine. Next to him, Harry kept his attention on the ceremony.  
It was a beautiful day. The ceremony was outdoors, and the bride and groom looked so happy. They were surrounded by their friends—no, their family—but only had eyes for each other.  
“I now pronounce you husband and wife.”  
Admiral Janeway handed her small bouquet of sunflowers to her sister, and leaned towards Captain Chakotay. He tenderly placed his hands on either side of her face, and placed his lips against hers. The kiss was proper, chaste, but so full of love. The gathered group broke into applause. Tom turned and saw that most of the group was from Voyager’s ex-crew.  
When B’Elanna returned to him—she had stood up for Chakotay as Best Woman—she sighed and looked at Harry.  
“Well, it looks like Tom won.”  
“Yeah, I’d say the evidence is indisputable.” They looked over to where the couple was greeting Tuvok and his family.  
“Well, you don’t really need the rations now…” B’Elanna began.  
“I wouldn’t collect them anyway.” Harry gave him a surprised look. “After everything they’ve been through, this is reward enough.” He explained, handing his daughter over to B’Elanna.  
“Family life has softened you.” Harry teased, but Tom could see a glimmer of pride in his eyes.  
“Not too much. Now, did you hear about…” He started to tell Harry about the latest rumor as they walked over to congratulate the happy couple.


End file.
